After a two-game home stand, the Marquette Golden Eagles head to the nation’s capital Saturday to take on the 19th ranked Georgetown Hoyas in the first conference away game in program history.
Despite being ranked 19th in the nation, the Hoyas come into this game on a six-game losing streak, with a 3-7 record on the season. The most notable of the losses came at the hands of the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels. The three wins early in the season came against the likes of No. 19 Princeton and No. 6 Duke. Georgetown was a unanimous pre-season pick to win the Big East Conference.
“This is one of the Big East teams we can really upset,” sophomore Claire Costanza said. “That motivates everybody on the team, and we’re really excited to come out and show them that we can beat them.”
The Hoyas are led by senior midfielder Kelyn Freedman who leads the team with 24 points on 19 goals and five assists. Another player to keep an eye on for Georgetown is junior attacker Caroline Tarzian who is the team’s second leading goal scorer with 16.
Marquette is on a roll heading into the upcoming three-game road trip, winning five of its last eight games. The Golden Eagles have outscored their opponents 27-12 in the last two contests. This is due in large part to the play of Costanza, who is coming off a seven-point performance against Cincinnati that earned her Big East Offensive Player of the Week. With the honor, Costanza becomes the first player in program history to earn player of the week.
“People are starting to talk about us,” sophomore Kenzie Brown said. “Last year they kind of looked at us as the worst team since we lost to Cincinnati and now we beat them.”
Not only is the game a homecoming for many of the members of the Marquette women’s lacrosse team who are from the greater D.C. area, but it is also a return for assistant coach Jordy Kirr. Kirr was a four-time all-conference performer with the Hoyas. In her time with Georgetown, Kirr became the school’s all-time leader in assists, ranked fourth in total points and 10th in scoring with 116 goals.
The Golden Eagles take on the Georgetown Hoyas Saturday at 11 a.m.
